Mercedes had a more complicated start to the weekend than expected at the Monaco Formula 1 GP. George Russell stated that Ferrari confirmed expectations of favoritism, but highlighted that the performance of Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen also caught attention during the first activities on the street circuit.
Read more F1: Haas sees progress in Monaco and seeks advancement on Saturday
The Briton finished FP2 in fourth position, ahead of his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, but about four tenths behind leader Lewis Hamilton. In Russell’s assessment, the Monaco race was already internally identified as one of the most difficult for Mercedes this season.
Speaking after the conclusion of Friday’s activities, the driver stated that Ferrari was seen as the main force even before arriving in Monaco: “We expected Ferrari to be the team to beat. Many people thought it was just talk, but clearly they are the benchmark here,” he said.
Russell also admitted that Red Bull showed a higher level of competitiveness than expected: “Red Bull was a surprise for us. We knew this would probably be the most challenging race for our team so far. In fact, it was a bit harder than we expected,” he said.
Despite the difficulties, the Briton highlighted that Mercedes managed to evolve between FP1 and FP2. According to him, there is still room to find more performance before the qualifying session, although the team did not manage to maximize its potential on the first day of activities.
Read more F1: Hadjar admits surprise with crash, but talks about ‘regaining confidence’ in Monaco
“We managed to improve from FP1 to FP2. We need to take another similar step overnight. I don’t think we got everything right today, so there’s still room to evolve, but Ferrari remains the benchmark team,” he added.
Analyzing Ferrari’s strength in Monaco, Russell pointed to historical characteristics of the Italian team’s cars as an explanation for their consistent performance on street circuits. According to him, the mechanical concept of the Maranello cars works particularly well on tracks with low-speed corners and elevation changes, distinctive features of the Monegasque layout.
Even believing that Mercedes can reduce the gap to the leaders, Russell showed caution about the chances of overcoming Ferrari in the fight for pole position: “We are doing everything we can to improve. I think we can close the gap, but whether we can overcome that advantage, I’m not sure,” concluded the British driver.
Read more F1: Piastri admits concern about McLaren’s performance
